The Billionaire and the Virgin

Marjorie Ivarsson adjusted the bow on her behind and craned her neck, trying to look in the mirror at the back of her dress. “How is this?”

“Fucking awful,” said the redhead next to her in a similar dress. “We look more like cupcakes than bridesmaids.”

“Do you guys really hate the dresses?” Bront? asked, wringing her hands as the women lined up and studied their reflections in the mirrors.

“Not at all,” said Audrey, who Marjorie knew was the extremely pregnant, nice one. Audrey elbowed the not-as-nice redhead next to her, who was her sister. “I think they’re lovely dresses. And you do too.”

“No, I don’t—”

Again, she elbowed her sister and turned to Marjorie. “What do you think of the dress, Marj?” Her eyes were and trying to convey a hint that the other woman was just not getting.

“I love it,” Marjorie lied, casting a brilliant smile at Bront?. Truth was, all that red and white made her look a bit like a barber pole with a bow, but Bront? had worked long and hard to pick out dresses and had paid for everything, so how on earth could Marjorie possibly complain? She’d seen the price tag for this thing. Apparently they’d been custom-made by a fashion designer, and the price of just one dress cost more than Marjorie would make in months. Bront? was spending a lot on her wedding, and Marjorie didn’t want to be the one to kick up a fuss.

So she adjusted the bow on her behind again and nodded. “It’s beautiful. I feel like a princess.”

Bront? smiled, relieved.

“Oh, you’re so full of shit,” Gretchen began, only to be elbowed by the pregnant one again.

“I think I need this let out a bit more on the sides,” Audrey said, waving over the dressmaker. “My hips keep spreading.”

A woman ran over with pins in her mouth, kneeling at Audrey’s side as Marjorie gazed at the lineup of Bront?’s bridesmaids. There was herself, a six-foot-one Nordic blonde. There was Gretchen, a shorter, curvier woman with screamingly red hair that almost clashed with her dress, except for the fact that she was the maid of honor, so her mermaid-cut gown was more white than red. There was Gretchen’s sister Audrey, who was a pale, freckled redhead and heavily pregnant. And sitting in a corner, beaming at them as if it were her own wedding, was a frizzy-headed blonde named Maylee who was currently being stitched into her bridesmaid’s dress. Apparently she was a last-minute addition to the wedding party, and so her dress had to be fitted on the fly.

Gretchen fussed with the swishing tulle gathered tightly at the knees by decorative red lace. “My wedding is going to be in black and white, I swear to god, because this shit is ridicu—”

“So what made you decide to have a destination wedding, Bron?” Marjorie interrupted, trying to be the peacemaker. She was a little disturbed at Gretchen’s rather vocal opinions about the dresses, and sought to change the subject.

Bront? beamed at Marj, looking a little like her old self. “This is where I met Logan, remember? We got stuck here when I won that trip from the radio and the hurricane hit.” She grabbed Maylee’s hands and helped the other woman to her feet as another tailor fussed over the hems. “Logan bought the island and decided to renovate the hotel. He pushed for them to have it done this week so we could get married here. Isn’t that sweet?”

“Sweet,” Marjorie echoed, adjusting the deep vee of her neckline. Truth be told, her brain had stopped processing once Bront? had said “bought the island.” Marj was still weirded out by the fact that Bront?—quirky, philosophy-quoting Bront?—had dated a billionaire and now they were getting married. In her eyes, she always saw Bront? as a waitress, just like herself. They’d worked together at a 50s sock-hop diner in Kansas City for the last year or two . . . at least until Bront? had moved to New York City to be with Logan. It was something out of a fairy tale—or a movie, depending on which was your drug of choice. Either way, it didn’t seem like something that happened to normal people. “You’re so lucky, Bront?. I hope I can meet a guy as wonderful as Logan someday.”

“‘Hope is a waking dream,’” Bront? said with a soft smile. “Aristotle.”

Gretchen snorted, only to be thwapped by her sister again.

“Bless your heart, Bront?, for paying for everything so we could all be here with you,” Maylee gushed, striding forward to line up with the other bridesmaids. “Look at us. We’re all so lovely, aren’t we?” She put a friendly arm around Marjorie’s waist and beamed up at her. “Like a bunch of roses getting ready for the parade.”